Meet Me In Manhattan
by the-huffle-puffle
Summary: A Drarry AU: Harry Potter disappeared after the war. Five Years Later Draco Malfoy runs into him in the most unlikely of places, a coffee shop in New York. Draco doesn't understand why Harry gave up magic. Harry tries to show him that there's more to the world than magic and that he sacrificed more than he's letting on during the war. T rating just in case.
1. Chapter 1

**A Drarry AU: Harry Potter disappeared after the war. Five Years Later Draco Malfoy runs into him in the most unlikely of places, a coffee shop in New York.**

**Disclaimer: No matter how much I would like to, I don't own Harry Potter or anything related to it. That privilege belongs to J.K Rowling.**

**Word Count: 745**

**A/N: As much as I would like to be able to update and post a new chapter everyday that probably won't happen. Hopefully you'll stick with me until the end but if not then I'll be happy for however long you stay. Anyway, I'll try to update as often as possible.**

* * *

><p><strong><em>Five years ago (After the Battle of Hogwarts)<em>**

Harry looked at the Elder wand that was still clutched in his hand. He hadn't said anything since Voldemort had died even though his friends had prompted him to speak several times. The only thing he did was look around in a dazed state at the carnage around him. He'd fixed his wand and placed the elder wand behind Dumbledore's painting in the headmasters office, then after everything had been cleaned as best as it could he went back to Grimmauld place.

Ron and Hermione hadn't followed him. They figured that he needed time to himself. Time to come to terms with everything that had happened. In a way they were right. Just then he was sitting on the edge of his bed, bent over with his arms resting on his thighs. His eyes weren't really focused on anything and he was trying his hardest not to think about anything in particular. When he did images of the battle were all he could see. Harry scrunched his eyes shut trying his hardest to make them disappear, but they wouldn't go away.

Tonks and Lupin, lying side by side the life gone from them, Ron, Percy and George standing over Fred trying to bring him back, Colin Creevy staring up at the ceiling of the Great Hall with dead eyes. That and more swan before him and he couldn't get rid of them. Harry saw their faces every where he looked. They were blaming him for their deaths. He couldn't take it anymore, he couldn't stand the guilt that he felt. In a sudden burst of emotion Harry jumped up from the bed.

He needed to break something in order to get rid of all his pent up rage. The first thing he grabbed what the chair that was sitting in the corner of the room. He smashed it to bits and while it was satisfying it did nothing to quell the ache that he felt in his chest. Pulling his wand from his pocket he started to destroy the room, breaking down every bit of furniture bit by bit until there was nothing but small piles of debris where they had been before. When it was over Harry was stand in the middle of the room, chest heaving, he wasn't really sure of what he'd done. Unable to do much of anything he sank to his knees on the floor and cried. Harry rocked himself back and forth as he sobbed all the while saying, "It's all my fault...it's all my fault..."

_**(Two Days After the Battle)**_

Hermione hadn't heard from Harry in the last two days and since he hadn't returned any of her owls she went to Grimmauld Place herself to see if he was alright. She knew that he had been through something that none of them would understand but she needed him to know that they were all there for him. She was going over what she was going to tell him in her mind when she walked through the front door. It was oddly quiet.

She shrugged off the eerie silence, thinking that Harry was just upstairs asleep and didn't realize how late in the day it was. As she walked around the house looking for any sign of life she also noticed that every room was clean. Not just any kind of clean either, the type of clean that usually meant someone wanted to hide something, but what she didn't know. "Harry." She called out softly. Hermione waited for a response but none came. She called his name a bit louder and still didn't hear anything. Fearing the worst she pulled out her wand. "_Homenum Revelio." _Nothing. In a full panic now she rushed up the stairs looking for some sort of sign that he was still there somewhere.

Her searching proved fruitless. Harry was no where to be found. Hermione went into the kitchen, she needed a glass of water to calm her nerves. On the kitchen table she found a note and she was filled with hope. She opened the small piece of parchement and read it. While she did her hand went up to her mouth in shock. She read it three more times just to make sure she understood what it was saying.

_Don't look for me. I've left for the good of everyone. It's all my fault. I'm never going to use magic again.  
>-<strong>Harry<strong>_

* * *

><p><strong>That's just the short introduction. I promise that there will be an update soon (hopefully). Please let me know what you think and if I should continue it. I would greatly appreciate it and honestly I think I could really use the practice. Thanks for reading! Until next time.<strong>


	2. Chapter 2

**A Drarry AU: Harry Potter disappeared after the war. Five years later, Draco Malfoy runs into him in the most unlikely of places. A coffee shop in New York.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any part of the Harry Potter universe.**

**Word Count: 1473**

* * *

><p><em><strong>Five Years Later (New York City)<strong>_

Draco turned the collar up on his coat, his nose crinkling in mild distaste. He hated the cold. The wind was chilling him, going through his coat as if he wasn't even wearing one. He sighed, further irked by the ability to see his breath in the air. Unfortunately he couldn't focus on his discomfort. Not when he still has business to attend to. Draco started to make his way up the sidewalk he had a meeting to get to and he didn't want to be late.

If the city of New York had one redeeming quality it was that the streets were numbered and not haphazardly strewn about like other cities. He had to commend the founders on their efficiency as he looked for his meeting place. The grid like city was easy to navigate and in a matter of minutes Draco was where he was supposed to be. Only he had to wonder if perhaps the directions that he'd been given were wrong.

A quick glance at the piece of parchment in his pocket just served to reassure him that he was in the right place. His brow furrowed. Leave it to his superiors to schedule a meeting in an abandoned house. Not for the first time, he wondered what he was even doing there.

_Draco sat at his desk filing a report there had been another auror killing. This one had been particularly nasty they had been turned into a bug, quashed and smeared on the ground with a shoe before being turned back into a person. It was something he hadn't wanted to believe but the proof was there when he'd showed up at their home. It made him ill to think that someone could be capable of such things and what would possess them to do such a terrible thing. He then told himself to shut up because he **had** been one of those people._

_Just as he was about to get lost in his thoughts someone tapped on his desk with their knuckles. Draco looked up and came eye to eye with his boss, the very last person he thought he'd be working for. He nodded in acknowledgement of her presence. "Weasley."_

_Ginny smiled without humor. "Guess what Malfoy, you're going on holiday." She crossed her arms proudly over her chest as if he was supposed to be grateful to have been given such a wonderful opportunity. Her grin fell somewhat when he snorted._

_"You must be joking." The look on her face told him she wasn't. "A holiday? Now of all times?"_

_"Yes now and don't give me that look because it's technically not a holiday. It's an assignment. Undercover." _

_"Last time I went undercover I was in St. Mungos for a month." He muttered under his breath but in the end he sighed. "Fine, when do I leave?"_

_"Hmm, in about an hour." She grinned and flounced back to her office with a toss of her hair. She stopped and turned back all trace of her previous humour gone from her eyes. "I want these killings to stop Draco. They've got to and I think you're the only one who can do that."_

_He didn't have to say anything because they both agreed. The killings needed to be stopped but what could he possibly do about it? He was just one person._

Irritation at his surprise holiday was going to have to wait as there was work to be done. According to his report he was to meet an informant in the next five minutes. Good, that gave him plenty of time to inspect the area. Upon walking up to the place Draco, started to realize just how dilapidated it was. The shingles were falling off the roof and based on the ivy and mold that was growing on the outside walls it hadn't been inhabited in years.

When his analyzation of his surroundings didn't find anything suspicious he decided to go inside. If it were possible the interior looked even worse than the exterior. Most of the floor was missing, only a few stray floorboards connected the rooms. The smell was almost unbearable and Draco almost cast a bubblehead charm, just so he could have some fresh air to breath. Still Ginny has said the meeting was going to be out of the way and this was as out of the way of the general population as it got.

Further examination of the house proved useful as he found a kitchen with a small table with a couple chairs around it. Draco cast a few warding spells before anything else and when he finished he settled in to wait. Thankfully he didn't have to wait long because there was a loud POP! in the next room, a pause of silence and then someone stepped into the kitchen.

"Mr. Malfoy. Pleasure to see you again." For the second time in the last hour Draco's nose wrinkled in distaste. Mundungus Fletcher was the very last person that he wanted to see and sure enough there he was in all his sleazy glory. Somehow he brought the room together.

"Mundungus." He nodded curtly. There was a lapse of silence. His patience was beginning to wear thin, breathing sharply though his nose, Draco raised a brow. "Well? You had information for us?"

Nervously Mundungus pulled something from inside his coat pocket, a piece of parchment with a wax seal on the front. Draco ignored the other man's shaking fingers too engrossed with the what the parchment could possibly tell them about what was going on. The killer's name was possibly written someone within the ink, that made that small letter more valuable than gold just then.

The thief had been oddly fidgety for the last few minutes. Draco had attributed it to himself and that he was making him nervous because of the possibly of arrest but no there was something more than that. This was a panicked kind of squirming, the kind that one experiences during a fight. He barely has time to duck before a curse flew over his head crashing into the wall behind him. Instinctively he drew his wand and fired a hex back at them. There was a grunt and then the thud of a body hitting the floor. A small smirk moved his lips and he was just about to get up when he heard two other voices within the rooms.

He cursed under his breath, damning Ginny Weasely to the seventh circle of hell for sending him on a mission that could potentially get him killed. There was however no time for half formed plans of revenge. He needed to get out of there and fast. Draco aimed at the ceiling above him. If he was right then due to age and mold the infrastructure of the house has to be weakened. "_Bombarda Maxima!" _The blast tore through the roof just as he'd hoped but there was a little snag in his plan. He still wasn't out of the house and he could already sense the support beams starting to bend under the added stress. Draco didn't hesitate and apparated onto the sidewalk across the street, just in time to see the rest of the house collapse in on itself.

Hopefully that had been enough to take care of the other the wizards that had been trying to kill him. Idly he noticed that Mundungus had fled, probably before the first spell had even been cast. Leave it to the ministry to hire thieving snitching cowards as informants. Though he was gone then, they'd meet again and next time he was going to teach him a lesson, one he doubted that anyone would be opposed to. Still he had what he had come for all that was left to do now was go back to the hotel he had been staying at pack his bags and go home, but first he needed a cup of coffee, strange thing to crave after a near death experience but it was just another day for him really.

The small shop was just across the street from where he was staying and for lack of a better word, it was nice. If you liked that sort of thing not that he did. It wasn't crowded which suited his taste just fine. He was able to get his coffee quickly and in a timely manner. Just as he was about to head back towards the exit he bumped into someone. Barely managing to save his drink, he scowled up at the stranger and stopped short.

Both men stared at each other with equal expressions of shock. They were both looking into faces they hadn't seen in five years.

"Malfoy?" Harry said in disbelief.

Draco wasn't really sure how he managed to speak but he did. "Potter?"

* * *

><p><strong>And that is the end of that chapter. Quite the cliffhanger huh? I should have the next one up in the next few days but in the mean time I hope you enjoyed this and that you'll come back for the next one!<strong>


	3. Chapter 3

**A Drarry AU: Harry Potter disappeared after the war. Five years later, Draco Malfoy runs into him in the most unlikely of places. A coffee shop in New York.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any part of the Harry Potter universe. **

**Word Count: 1230**

* * *

><p>It's often said that in situations of high stress when a person feels like their life could be in jeopardy they invoke a certain instinct. A fight or flight instinct, but what about when one is frozen in place? What kind of instinct does that invoke? Harry was never sure why that particular thought crossed his mind in that moment. His therapist often said that whenever a person was faced with a stressful situation they would often rationalize it as best they could by thinking of something that was normal. The fact that an animal's instincts were what he considered normal worried him but not as much as the presence of the man in front of him did.<p>

Harry wasn't even sure that this was real. He'd seen faces of those that he had known before in his waking like but never so vividly and they had never spoken to him before. The sound of his voice though expressed the same amount of shock that Harry himself was feeling. Without even thinking he reached out as if to touch his arm. The jingle of the bell that was attached to the coffee shop door that signified when a customer came in was what jolted him out of his stupor.

Yanking his hand back he took two steps backward. His mouth opened as if he wanted to say something but nothing came out. He closed it, turned around completely and left the shop without a second glance. Harry was halfway down the street when he heard a shout from behind him. "Potter!"

He didn't stop and quickened his pace. If he didn't pay attention to it it would just go away like all the other visions. _It isn't real. It isn't real. _He chanted over and over again in his head, silently willing the voice to go away.

Only it didn't. It was persistent. Then suddenly there was a hand on his shoulder stopping him in his tracks. A real hand, not an illusion and that's when he finally came to terms with the fact that this was indeed real. That only scared him more.

Slowly he turned around to face Draco. The first thing he noticed was the pink in his pale cheeks. Probably from having to run to catch up with him. The second was the other cup of coffee that was clutched in his hand. "You...forgot...this." He panted, holding it out for him.

Harry's arm reached out stiffly to take it. Mechanically he said thank you and nothing else, simply stared at Draco while he caught his breath. When he finally did neither of them said anything. They just looked at each other awkwardly.

Draco spoke first. "Bloody cold outside isn't it?" He sniffed and Harry noticed that his nose was slightly pink from the chill in the air. He nodded and motioned with his head that Draco should follow him. He was still having a hard time figuring out how to talk.

There really wasn't that much to say between them. When Harry had left he had gone with the intention of never seeing anyone from the wizarding world ever again and to literally bump into Draco Malfoy in a coffee shop had not come to mind at all. In any case there was no going back and changing the past now. Well he could but he didn't have a timeturner and the last time he'd used one had been so much work. He wasn't really sure he was up to it anymore.

No what he needed to do was focus on the matter at hand. How in Merlin's saggy pants was he going to explain his absence for the last five years. Not that he thought Malfoy cared but he figured he ought to tell someone other than his therapist.

In their walking they didn't exchange words once. Draco not to far behind Harry, occasionally taking sips of his coffee, he had actually just been about to ask where they were going when Harry started to go up to the stairs of a building. "You live here?" He asked curious. There was only a nod in answer.

Harry trying to stay calm stuck to his normal routine. He stopped to check his mail, he checked the mail for his neighbor and elderly woman who couldn't come out from her apartment very often because she was in a wheel chair. Then making sure that Draco was still behind him he started up the stairs. There was a perfectly working elevator to their left but he wanted to prolong the conversation as much as he could.

When they got to the floor his apartment was on Harry unlocked the door, motioning for Draco to go in without him, speaking for the first time since the coffee shop. "Er, go on in and make yourself at home. I'll only take a minute."

Draco nodded and did as he was told leaving the door open fractionally behind him. Harry sighed and ran a hand through his hair. How the hell was he going to do this? Pushing the thought aside he knocked on the door next to his. From inside he heard someone tell him to come in and he turned the unlocked door knob. Mrs. Hennessy was in her living room, knitting a scarf. Her face lit up when she saw him. She put down her work and rolled over to him. "Harry! How are ya sweetie?" He couldn't help but smile, her accent always managed to do that.

"I'm good, Mrs. Hennessy but I can't stay. I've got a guest over. I was actually just dropping off your mail." He held it out and noticed that his hands were shaking. She put her hands over his stilling them. His eyes closed for a moment and he took a breath.

"You sure you're okay?" She asked, peering into his face, worry apparent in her own. "Yes...yes. I'm fine. I'll be back okay? To help you with dinner."

For a moment it seemed like she was going to press it further but she didn't say anything just sat back in her chair with a half forced smile. "I'm making your favorite. Meat loaf."

He laughed while making his way to the door. "I'm looking forward to it." He called over his shoulder. Once he was back in the hallway he shut the door behind him with a small click. He went over to his own apartment, stepping in before he could stop himself. Something rubbed itself against his leg and he almost jumped until he realized it was his cat. A sigh of relief escaped him and he made his way farther in. "Draco?" He called out quietly.

"In here." He followed his voice into the living room. His cup of coffee had been placed on the table as if it was just any normal day and he was coming in from work. How wrong he was. Harry sat on one of the opposite couches and leaned forward with his arms resting against his thighs, a position so similar to the one he'd been in when he had destroyed his room at Grimmauld place. His eyes closed for a moment as he prepared himself for what was about to happen next. "I don't even know where to start." He whispered.

"Start from the beginning." Draco whispered back.

* * *

><p><strong>I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas and if you celebrate something else then I hope that went well for you and if you don't celebrate anything and this is just time off for you then I hope you're having a lovely break because you deserve it! I hope you all have a happy New Year and that you enjoy yourselves then too! Best of luck in 2015!<strong>


End file.
